Football takes back seat for Albania’s politically charged Serbia clash

The issue of Kosovo looms large as Albania prepare for a first trip to Belgrade since 1967 with both sides putting their contrasting Euro 2016 qualification campaigns on hold•Portugal slump to home defeat by Albania

Ermir Lenjani celebrates after scoring his first international goal in Albania’s draw with Denmark. Photograph: Arben Celi/Reuters

Ermir Lenjani executed an almost perfect backflip, almost as if to remind us that Shefki Kuqi is not the only Albanian that can fly. He then turned to the stands of newly-opened Elbasan Arena packed with ecstatic fans and put his hands behind his ears in a gesture that clearly asked for even louder support. The crowd went wild.

Just seconds beforehand, the 25-year-old midfielder from St Gallen, Switzerland, where he has spent most of his life, sent a low ball past Kasper Schmeichel and scored his first international goal , giving Albania a surprise 1-0 lead against Denmark. At the end, his brilliant strike was neutralised by Lasse Vibe’s late goal and the spoils were shared, but the euphoria in this beautiful country did not disappear. Not particularly good in terms of quality, but an extremely disciplined and well-organised team, built by their Italian manager, Gianni De Biasi, surprised the world of football by beating Portugal at the start of the campaign last month and the ambitions in Tirana hit the sky.

Shqiponjat – the Eagles – as the team have been nicknamed in Albania, have never reached a major tournament but after a very good start they are hoping that this team could be the one to break the jinx and qualify for Euro 2016.

“That would mean a lot to us”, says Redi Jupi, director of the national teams department for the Albanian FA. “Football in Albania is improving, but getting to the biggest stage would be a huge boost for the future. However, we are fully aware of our limitations and the fact that our realistic goal should be finishing in the third position, behind Portugal and Serbia, two favourites in our group. To make this happen this we have to keep calm, play our game, with the clear picture of our limits.”

The next big test for Lenjani and his team-mates will be on Tuesday, when, for the first time since 1967, Albania visit Belgrade. But, if Lenjani can replicate his performance against Denmark and score at the Partizan Stadium, he will not have a chance to celebrate it with his fans.

“The supporters of Albania are not allowed to visit the stadium,” explains Milivoj Mirkov, head of security for the Serbian Football Federation. “Uefa banned away supporters from this as well as the rematch that will be played in October 2015 due to security reasons. Every Albanian supporter that tries to attend the match will be arrested and prosecuted.”

The Albanian FA’s request for 2,000 tickets was met with a condition from Serbia that tickets should be sold only to Albanian passport holders. Tirana refused this; such a rule would exclude the huge Albanian diaspora all over Europe, but most importantly, the residents of Kosovo.

The ethnic Albanians mostly inhabit a territory that fits between Serbia and Albania and which took today’s shape as an autonomous province under Serbian control in post-World War II Yugoslavia. While the earlier ethnic composition has been disputed, the Albanians have constituted a majority in Kosovo since the 19th century.

The perennial tensions, which began in the early 80s after the death of Josip Broz Tito, escalated in the 90s. The Albanian community in Kosovo used the disintegration of Yugoslavia to begin their battle for independence from Serbia, but the culmination was a brutal and bloody war that ended with Nato’s intervention in 1999.

Following the peace agreement and the United Nations administration in Kosovo, the local government decided to declare independence in February 2008, leading to recognition by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and many other countries. However, the Serbs never settled for such a solution and still dispute Kosovo’s independence.

The constant tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have left this country in the middle of Europe exist in a sort of limbo. Kosovo, in practice with all the functions of the constituent and sovereign country, is still not recognised by the United Nations and therefore cannot be a member of Uefa or Fifa.

“We are allowed to play friendly matches and that is the first step”, says Fadil Vokrri, the president of the Kosovo Football Federation. In the 80s Vokrri was a striker for Kosovo’s biggest team FK Pristina, before he moved to Belgrade and joined Partizan. At a period when tensions in former Yugoslavia were at their strongest, an ethnic Albanian was the hero of the Partizan Stadium, the venue where Serbia will host Albania this Tuesday.

“To be honest, I don’t want to talk about this. Not about Serbia or Albania. The tensions are too big and I don’t want to add oil to the fire”, says Vokrri. His goal is to get Kosovo into Fifa and create a strong side to represent the country in official matches. But, until then, if it ever happens, the Kosovars are, and they do so passionately, supporting Albania.

Not just supporting, to be precise. Seven players from 23-man squad to travel to Belgrade were born in Kosovo. Four of them were starters against Denmark; two more took part in that match as used substitutes. The captain, Lorik Cana from Lazio, his club team-mate and the No1 goalkeeper Etrit Berisha and Zurich’s midfielder Burim Kukeli are among them. Lenjani as well.

“It was a great feeling to score against Denmark”, he told Albanian media after the match. “But the Serbia match will be special. We’ll give 200 percent.”

“I can freely say that this is not a normal match and that we are not approaching it as usual. It is impossible to keep the players and the staff outside from the general situation. Obviously, some of the important players in our team are from Kosovo and this is a special match for them,” says Jupi, trying to calm down the hype.

“But in the same time, this is a huge pressure for them. We are trying to save them from that pressure, because after all, the most important thing is football. Winning points.”

Obviously, as is often the case in the Balkans, the 90 minutes of football are of less importance. Even though Dick Advocaat’s Serbia suffered from a disastrous start, dropping not just two points but, after only one competitive match, losing public support, not many discuss their footballing prospects on Tuesday. Neither are the Albanians focused on the fact that this could be their first step towards historic qualification to France 2016.

Once again, football in the Balkans is forced to battle with the politics and as it looks now, it will most likely lose.